Canon 100-400mm IS USM L

Aussieroo

Well this camera disease just keeps on keeping on and I have succumb to yet another lens upgrade.

Anyway this is one great lens that has come down in price at least $700 in the last 12 months, makes it even harder to resist.

I find it is heavy YES but not overly heavey for me and am happy shooting with it for long periods. For some though the weight will be an issue as it would be with my wife Ruth.

The push pull zoom is easy and quick to get used to and I actually enjoy it and wasn't an issue I thought it might have been.

It is super fast focusing and quiet and the Image Stabaliser does a wonderful job. I have used it both on a tripod, and hand held with very acceptable results. I have posted some photos in my smugmug albums and below are a couple of samples.

If this is a lens that has your interest I am happy to discuss it further if you like. I am looking forward to trying it out on sports and moving things like cars and planes and will post samples as I get to shoot them.

These first 2 shots are taken on a tripod, f8, iso 400, 400mm zoom using a cable release with the mirror up option for optimum steadiness. It was however a very overcast day and very windy and it was moving the lens on the tripod ever so slightly. I also had the EV boosted to plus 1/3rd to compensate the dull light.








and these ones were hand held with basically the same settings





The rest you can view at full size here

http://ozphotos.smugmug.com/gallery/5308312_Xq489#324003147_u3dhM

ziggy53

Cool! Congratulations of the purchase and I look forward to more examples.

Aussieroo

ziggy53 wrote:

Cool! Congratulations of the purchase and I look forward to more examples.

Thanks Ziggy, as you can probably tell I am quiter excited to have this lens. For some of us on limited budgets this is a huge purchase for a hobby and I am surprised I didn't end up divorced because of it:D

We are heading off on 3 weeks holidays and hope to visit some well known areas for outdoor shooting and hopefully when I get back I will have a few shots to share from this exciting new lens. So far I have enjoyed the versatility of the lens and it seems to be a good copy of this lens as well as it has a reasonable sharpness right through the range.

I am heading out shortly for a bit more practice before we leave in a weeks time. If anything worth sharing comes from it I will post it.

kozmix

Very nice shots, those look really sharp! I'm considering that lens too, but pondering between it and a 70-200. I heard the 100-400 its not very sharp wide open, and a good amount of light is needed to shoot at f8 at 400mm. But we'll see when i have the budget =p

Congrats on your purchase!

Aussieroo

kozmix wrote:

Very nice shots, those look really sharp! I'm considering that lens too, but pondering between it and a 70-200. I heard the 100-400 its not very sharp wide open, and a good amount of light is needed to shoot at f8 at 400mm. But we'll see when i have the budget =p

Congrats on your purchase!

Thank you as I say if the shot is worth taking in low light it is worth a tripod. I used a cable release on these as well except for the 2 that were hand held. I managed good shutter speed using 320ISO. Like most lenses you have to work with them and there is no one lens that is perfect and fits all occasions. I will keep my f2.8 70-200 Sigma for those low light club shots etc but we all need to make our own decisions based on budget, shooting styles and likes. So good luck with your decision